Darkness and Dimness
by Graymoon74
Summary: Erik saves a woman from harm only to find that he may wish to harm her!
1. Default Chapter

This is based on the book and the new movie that just came out. I own nothing of these characters. Except Nadine and Nedia. This is meant to be romantic, but humorous. Don't ask why I wrote this story. I was bored and the movie made me do this. My fingers found a keyboard, unfortunately, and began to play. Oh, I do hope to be serious and funny in the same moment.

Enjoy!

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The New Mess

Lovely that time moves on, people move on, but some things stay the same. Voices echo through empty caverns as if someone were still there, waiting. Waiting for a new hope.

Well, something that may resemble a new hope.

She, arms waving frantically, came running down the opposite shore of his large cavern. She had dirt caked to her dress, ribbons of spit hanging from her mouth and her voice was raging with terror or absolute horror. He couldn't make out what she was saying. If she were actually saying anything at all.

Limply she fell into the water, sinking there like a large rock.

The men came next. Armed with sticks. There voices heavy with crude remarks.

The phantom stood, his eyes never leaving the men as the woman swam toward him. She was kicking up swarms of mud; her face now covered with her unruly hair.

He threw off his cape, slowly walking into the water. Quickly he pulled the terrified woman to his shore. He left her there as he moved toward the men once again.

They mocked him. Laughed at him.

He gently raised his sword.

They ran.

She stared at him through her messy hair. He was moving toward her now, a gate slowly coming down behind him to close off the cavern. Who was this man and what in God's name did he mean to do with her? And why the hell had she swum over to him? The other men may have been less dangerous.

"Thank you." She offered as she slung her hair back from her face, "I think they meant to harm me."

"Or just beat you with a stick." He said softly, his wet pant leg brushing past her as he moved toward another part of the cavern.

She stood quickly, "I'm freezing." She said as she stood shivering. He was over by a large statue; he seemed to be changing. His back to her as he pulled off his wet shirt.

Hmmm…she thought…very nice.

Then he turned, his face hidden on one side by a mask.

Hmmm…she thought…very weird.

"You have any clothes for me or shall I freeze to death in this hell of yours?"

He eyed her as he walked up some steps toward what seemed to be a large organ, "You can freeze to death." He said lightly, but added, "Unless you can sing."

She rolled her eyes lightly as she grabbed a candle off a large metal stand, "I'll warm myself with this candle."

"Very well." He said, now seating himself at his organ, "I'll play while you freeze to death."

"Why is everything in this God forsaken Opera House built upon a song or a voice? Why can't some of us just have horrible voices and stick with that?" she was fuming, her voice rising above the sound of his organ, "Why must you play that music while I am yelling at you?"

He was getting irritated. His fingers were almost clenching the keys below each tip. He had been yearning for another human being for years. Just waiting for someone to fall into his lair. Now, he was yearning for his peace and quiet. The soft lap of the little lake at his shore. The creaking of the old boards of the Opera House above his head. The soft voices of woman singing.

But all that was gone now.

She was here with her big mouth and…

He stepped quickly from the organ, down the steps…

His hand immediately slammed over her mouth. She was trying to bite him now. He pushed harder, his white mask pressed against her warm skin, "Shut up!" he hissed at her with so much malice that he was sure his spit had blood in it.

She must have felt the strength in that touch, in those fingers, because she hushed finally. A salty tear hitting his hand.

He pulled away from her.

"Sing or die." He stated plainly.

She stepped back, blinked, "But…"

He turned back to her.

She began to sing. Something horrible that he would later write down so he could smack her in the head with it a few times. The song coming from her large mouth seemed to be about death, torture and a muscular man with a mask.

"A different song." He hissed again as he pulled her up the steps.

She pulled her arm from his tight grasp, her hand rubbing the red marks away. Now she felt like a naughty child. Maybe he would spank her.

She slapped herself.

The phantom giving her a dark stare, "Are you mad? Some lunatic to darken my days even more?"

"No." she said quickly, "Play your stuff, I'll sing something."

She watched his arms under the thin fabric of his shirt. Her eyes finally resting on his long fingers that graced the organ keys as if he were playing them with air between the keys and his skin.

She began to sing her voice soft and fragrant with promise. And then, to his dismay, she hit a high note.

He quickly put his hand on his mask in order to protect it from cracking. Her voice could wake the dead and kill the dead all in the same moment.

From his mask, his hand blindly traveled over to her mouth and settled there, "Please, for the sake of all that is peaceful, shut your hole."

She did fall silent, his hand wet with the moisture of her lips.

"It was perfect until you hit that high, high, think you broke my eardrums, note." He turned to her, "What in God's name was that?"

She snatched off his mask.

She blinked, shrugged her shoulders, "Seen worse." She said lightly and then she moved back toward the shore of the cavern.

"It doesn't frighten you?" he asked. He was a bit peeved by this. Everyone was scared of his face. He was even scared of it sometimes.

"Boyfriend was in a fire once. I think he got out. I don't know." She kicked at some of the dirt at the shore, "Yours is pretty nasty looking, but his was worse. Actually, I think he did die. I think I remember a funeral or something."

She watched the man put his mask back on and turn back to the organ. He seemed to be muttering a prayer about Jesus taking him sooner than he had wished.

He heard her going back into the water. For a second he wished she might drown or something. Then he looked at her. He really looked at her. Studied her for a second.

She was attractive in a way, but…

The hell with it, he thought, let her die!


	2. Scene 2

No ownership. Would love to own GB...um...he,he,he...(Clearing throat)...okay.

Thank you to my4 reviewers. Sorry about the first chapter of the story. I had some stars in there to break up the POV's, but they fell out for some reason. This time I just used 'x'. )

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Not such a mess

Nadine walked quickly up to the large gate. Her hands slipping on the slimy iron beneath her touch. She pushed her face close to the mossy smelling metal bars and peeked through. There, on the far shore, was her idiot sister.

"Nedia." She whispered. Her hands becoming tighter on the cold iron, "What are you doing?"

Nedia was busy kicking dirt up with her mud caked feet.

Suddenly, Nadine noticed a figure up at the top of some dirt steps. He seemed to be just sitting there. Maybe listening for her voice again.

What did he mean to do with her sister? Did she really care if he meant to harm her?

Not really, she thought quietly.

"Idiot!" Nadine whispered a bit harsher this time. Her sister's head jerked up and her eyes locked with Nadine's.

"NADINE!" she screamed in excitement. Then she laughed lightly and rolled her eyes, "What the heck do you want?"

"Dad, Troy and Gary are mad." Nadine whispered harshly, "They chased you here and you deceived them by going to him. Whoever he is."

"They wanted to kill me." Nedia said as she kicked more sand up, "Ask old spaghetti face up there. They were trying to hit me with sticks."

"That isn't very nice, Nedia." Nadine hissed as her eyes traveled back up to the masked man who was now staring at her, "Apologize!"

"No." Nedia said softly and then kicked a large stone at her sister.

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Erik moved from his place at the organ, his eyes still on Nadine. She seemed to shudder under his stare. He walked down to the shore, gently grabbing onto Nedia and pulling her roughly into the water. He dragged her through thelake until he came to the gate. Nadine had stepped back.

"Can you sing?" he said quietly to the girl on the other side of the gate, his eyes never leaving her eyes.

"I can hum." She said with a tremor in her voice, "Or whistle."

The gate began to rise slowly, "Then you shall stay until she comes back."

"But..."

Nedia pulled her sister roughly to the other side as she ducked out to freedom.

"Have fun with the freak!" she screamed as she ran up the other shore.

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There was an awkward silence as the gate lowered. Nadine cleared her throat, "Sorry about her. Mother dropped her on her head when she was born."

"Should have drowned her." He muttered as he walked past Nadine.

She stared after him. Quietly wondering why he had a mask on one side of his face. Maybe he was into strange things down here in the darkness. Maybe she really didn't need to be here getting her sister out of another mess.

"I tried to drown her once, but she figured out that she was in the rain." Nadine waded up to the shore, "Heh..." she muttered nervously, "Just a joke really."

"I get it." He said softly.

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Erik looked at her before he seated himself. This one didn't seem a very good pick at all. She wasn't very attractive. And what made her more unattractive was the fact that she seemed to be very insecure.

But, wasn't he unattractive?

"Yeah." He whispered. "Seemed to forget."

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing." He seated himself at the organ, "Come to me." He said lightly.

He felt her behind him in moments. She seemed to be making some sort of utterly annoying noise with her teeth. A chattering of her teeth as if she had been out in the cold for too long.

"What is that?" he asked without turning to look at her.

"Oh..." she cleared her throat, "bad habit. Nervous habit..."

"Quit doing it!" He hissed.

"Right." She said.

He could now feel her breath on his neck. Was she really that close?

He didn't mind, though. Human contact was something he hardly ever accomplished, so this closeness to her made him feel somewhat more connected to what he truly was. If he were truly human at all.

He still wasn't sure about that!

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Nadine didn't like him looking at her. No one ever really looked at her so it made her very uncomfortable. She was happy that he was turned away from her now.

Her whole body was tense as she moved even closer to him. Now her arm was touching his white shirt.

She quickly moved back. She wasn't the sort of girl to get too close to anyone, especially a man who dressed in masks and lived in a cavern under the Opera House.

She began to make a small popping sound with her lips as he began a haunting melody on the organ.

Abruptly it stopped. She saw him lean forward in a tense shudder.

She stared at him. Her lips vibrating with the noises she was making.

"Let me guess..." he said very harshly, "another bad habit!"

"Sorry." She said as she turned crimson.

"How many bad, nervous habits do you have?" he asked quietly.

"A lot." She said, "Let me show you."

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THREE HOURS LATER...

"Stooooooooppppppppp...!" he screamed, as he stood up and pushed her aside, "Is everyone mad nowadays!? Is there hell on earth?"

"Sorry." She whispered.

He looked at her, his anger throbbing throughout him like a horrible rage. He wanted to explode. He wished to kneel down and beat the earth below him. Maybe dig his way into an era where the women weren't so maddening.

"Sing something, pleeeeaaaassssseeeeeeee..." he said as he leaned back his head, "and make it good. Pleassssssssseeeeeeeee."

He waited. Finally, slowly, she began to sing.

He paused. Opened his eyes. Looked at her.

This would be a lot of work, but she had promise.

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"It's horrible, I know. Oh God, I am so sorry." She jumped down from the steps, landing on her behind in the dirt, "I hate my voice." She said softly, and then she screamed, "I hate my life!"

He was still staring at her.

Slowly she lowered her face into her knees, "Please don't stare at me." She said softly, "I feel like a freak."

"Freak?" he questioned lightly, he was lifting his mask off his face.

"Freak." She repeated, "I mean, I know that my sister is beautiful and men would destroy each other for her. No one would destroy anything for me. Ugh...I hate my face." She buried her face deeper between her knees, "Ugh…and I hate the fact that I am wallowing in self pity."

"You want to see a freak?" she heard him ask.

"I can look in the mirror for that." She said as she pulled her green jacket tighter to her breast.

"Look at me." He said.

She sighed, but looked up at him.

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He stared at her. The weight of the air on his swollen face seemed suffocating. His eye socket felt barren as if the eye that sat in it were dried up and gone.

Still, he didn't break eye contact with her. He had to be strong.

He waited.

He was waiting for her to scream bloody murder or run for her life. He was waiting for drama and nightmarish wails of fright.

She did none of it.

Slowly she stood, her eyes never leaving his face.

"How did it happen?" she questioned, her hand rising up to touch the purple skin.

He pulled back like a scared animal. A furrow played upon his brow. Who were these women who weren't afraid of him?

"I was born like this." He muttered lightly. He put the mask back on, slowly turning away from her.

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"And I was born like this." She heard herself say lightly, "But I think you are a beautiful man. I mean. You did sit and listen to me for three hours. No one really ever listens to me for more than three minutes."

"I think I could teach you to sing better." He said as he looked at her, "Much better."

She smiled lightly, "For the dog choir?" she questioned.

"Can you howl?" he uttered.

She seated herself, "No. Can you?"

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He found himself smiling slightly as he walked up to the organ again. She may work after all. He knew he would have to train her for many months, but he was willing to try. She sounded much better than her attractive sister did and she seemed a lot sweeter.

He was ready for this challenge...

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But, then, from across the lake came a voice...

From hell...

"NADINE! Mom says you have to do your chores!"

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Ugh...he knew he should have drowned her!


End file.
